Reading... And anything else we’d like to know about!

How we are going to help your child to read:  Blending and word book  Reading books  Guided reading  Individual reading  Bug Club  Daily Phonics sessions  Weekly visits to the library  Reading buddies  Class stories  Reading Bus

Blending and Word Book  Blending book gives you the opportunity to practise sounds and blending sounds together to form words.  Word book allows children to practise recognising key words and ‘tricky’ words that can’t be phonetically decoded.  Little and often is the best method- even if it is only a page or 5 mins. Per day.

Reading books  Reading books generally get changed when they have been heard on 2 different occasions.  Reading level (colour) based on the children’s phonics phase and reading ability.  Purple colour is based on phonic phase.  Colours: Blue 1, Blue 2, Red 1, Red 2, Pink 1, Pink 2, Brown 1, Brown 2...

Guided Reading  Read a book as part of a group (usually 4-6 children per group).  Each child has a book and read to the adult or group.  Ask questions about the text.  Discuss answers.  Encourage the children to have a discussion and ask questions as well.

Individual Reading  Children read their book and practise their Blending/Word book.  Adult will write in their reading record.  Parent volunteers will write in the class reading record.  Adult will change their book.  Every child will be heard 1:1 by an adult at least once per week in school.

Bug Club  Internet reading scheme.  Each child has a username and password.  Get allocated books based on their phonics level.  Able to read the book or have it read to them.  Given questions to answer afterwards.  Children enjoy the interactive nature of it. 

Daily Phonics Sessions  Based on ‘Letters and Sounds’ document.  Different phases to teach the different phonemes (sounds) and combinations of sounds.  Phase 1 taught in Pre-school and Sept.  Phase 2 taught before Christmas (single letter sounds)  Phase 4 taught after Christmas (CVCC, CCVC, CCCVC etc...)  Phase 3 taught after Feb half term (ay, ea, oo etc...)  By end of Reception will be learning phase 5 (alternatives)

Weekly Trip to the Library  Build and sustain an interest in books.  Learn about different types of books.  Learn how to borrow and return books.  Understand how to respect books.  Get to spend time with adults reading to them.  If books are overdue (after a term) then a friendly reminder will go home!  Books can find their way into the class room bookshelf sometimes!  Class 1 Wednesday and Class 2 Friday.

Reading Buddies  Year 5 children visit on Mon, Tues and Thurs.  They hear the children read and practise their Blending/Word book.  They write in their reading diaries (please take with a pinch of salt!).  It is genuinely my favourite time of the week!

Class Books  Can be to do with the learning we are doing e.g ‘The Gruffalo’ or ‘The Last Polar Bear’.  Try to read the stories more than once so the children can learn the plot and any rhymes.  Something magical about reading to a class.

Reading Bus  Trying to motivate children to read at home.  Get on the ‘Bus’ if they read at least 3 times per week at home.  Get evidence from reading diaries and Bug Club.  Raffle each term and winner from each class gets a £5 book voucher.  Regular reading at home cannot be underestimated. At the age of 5, parents have 5x the impact of children’s reading progress compared with schools. At age 7 they have double the impact and it doesn’t even out until the age of 11!

Resources To Help At Home  School website.     Pirate Phonics app  Hairy Letters app  Espresso home access ... It really doesn’t matter what you do as long as you try to dedicate some time to helping your child read. The progress they make in a short space of time is remarkable!

What Would You Like Next Time?